The drive towards a low-carbon economy has dramatically increased the need for electricity suppliers to seek out and develop renewable energy sources and for consumers to curb their appetite for power. Even so, in the UK the stark facts suggest that within a decade demand for electricity is likely to outstrip the nation鈥檚 ability to supply it, says Luq Niazi of IBM Global Business Services. 鈥淲e will simply have to live with less energy,鈥� he says.
The way to balance supply and demand in future will be to create smart grids. That was the view of speakers at a last week organised by IBM in conjunction with the Prince of Wales鈥檚 , which aims to inspire people to create a more sustainable future. The success of these grids will depend not only on ingenious new technology but also on a radical change of attitude among all the players 鈥� government, businesses and consumers.
A smart grid is a network that links power companies to an array of intelligent devices that keep tabs on electricity use within homes and businesses. These devices can give consumers instant feedback on how much they鈥檙e spending on electricity, enabling them to make better choices about how they use it.
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And the smart grid will do much more than this. Today, if a power station has to shut down, another can be fired up to make up the shortfall. But in the near future, when our electricity will come from many renewable sources whose outputs are intermittent, switching on a reserve source of power will be more difficult. Smart grids will let power companies reduce demand by switching off consumers鈥� appliances automatically 鈥� with their agreement, of course.
Much of the basic technology needed to build a smart grid already exists. The non-stop relay of information between appliances and electricity meters can be achieved with short-range wireless technology, while the meters can talk to electricity companies via the internet.
With scores of smart-meter and smart-grid projects under way across the globe, thorny issues are starting to emerge, says Stephen Holliday, chief executive of the electricity and gas distributor, . One is the sheer diversity of projects. 鈥淔or smart grids to be effective, we need standardisation,鈥� he says. Much more worrying, however, is that 鈥渃onsumer response has been appalling鈥�, he adds.
There is a huge job to be done in educating the public. Consumers also need the right incentives, and working out what will be attractive to them could take time. The first step, namely to give customers an insight into how their energy use breaks down, should be relatively easy, says Petter Allison, who heads up the . But getting people to accept automated energy management could be a harder sell. If we get the communication right, he believes, smart grids will transform the way we use energy, just as mobile phones have changed the way we communicate.
If technology and attitudes towards it are issues for consumers, so too are they for businesses and government. As an example of why a change in mindset is needed, David Clarke, chief executive of public-private energy research group, the , cites the need to develop new ways of storing the energy we generate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just large-scale pump stations in hollowed-out mountains we need, but small-scale electricity storage and inter-seasonal heat storage,鈥� he says.
Efforts are beginning to perfect new kinds of batteries, energy-storing flywheels and the like. But, says Niazi, none of this innovation will get far unless government puts forward a clear vision and provides the right incentives for businesses to invest in filling the technology gaps.